Council announces ‘cash’ return for town’s car parks
By Connor Steel
GOSPORT BOROUGH COUNCIL have announced that drivers will be able to make both cash or card payments in the town’s car parks from ‘early’ next year; signalling a sudden ‘U-turn’ just seven months after multiple payment machines were removed as part of a switch off that was originally hoping to save a combined £60,000 in running fees / upgrades.
This move was confirmed last Friday (December 8) by local councillors and follows recent figures that indicted Gosport drivers had not taken to the new system as initially hoped. The system was introduced in May and saw a total of twelve cash parking removed, with drivers asked to pay using transactions such as contactless cards or the MiPermit process.
There were concerns about this change in payment options with vulnerable and elderly drivers reporting “difficulties” in using contactless payments. This was then backed up by the Gosport Older People’s Forum who labelled the MiPermit application as “frustrating”, whilst a disability group said that many didn’t have access to a smartphone or digital device.
At the time it was stated that the biggest proportion of car park incomes came from contactless card transactions and it is still the case according to the council. A press release states that MiPermit payments have almost doubled in the last seven months and that this type of transaction had overtaken cash despite an extra cost of 10p for each individual use.
But cash payments still amounted to twenty-five percent of car park ‘income’ in recent months and therefore the council have decided to restore old machines to twelve sites across the town. Councillors are hoping to have this set up by late March 2024 with Liberal Democrat Councillor Peter Chegwyn offering his own thoughts which can be seen via this link
Councillors have further said that the ability to use MiPermit to pay car parking costs will remain unchanged; as will the option to continue using text messages, QR codes, automated phone lines and the website across all twenty-four sites. They have further clarified that the ‘first hour’ at short-stay car parks will remain free for all facilities in the Town Centre.
PICTURED BY CONNOR STEEL: Drivers will once again be able to pay for car parking using cash and card in March.
